The Centre on Wednesday approved a proposal to give production-linked bonus (PLB) to employees of Indian Railways. The decision would benefit 12.58 lakh staff and cost the government Rs 1,030.02 crore.

As per the proposal approved by the Cabinet, the output for a year is to be calculated with the total goods revenue net tonne km, non-suburban passenger km converted by a factor of 0.076 and suburban passenger km converted by a factor of 0.053, the government said in a statement.

“The input is taken as the non-gazetted staff strength (excluding RPF/RPSF personnel), increased by the incremental increase/decrease in capital (over average of last three years) during the year,” it said.

The government has given relative weights for tractive effort at 0.50, for wagon capacity at 0.20 and 0.30 for seating capacity. The labour input i.e. non-gazetted staff strength is then increased to the extent of the percentage increase in the incremental capital, it said.

The railways would also consider the highest PLB amount of 78 days’ wages as paid in the past four financial years of FY2011 until FY2014. “This year also PLB equivalent to 78 days’ wages will be paid considering the good financial performance, which is expected to motivate employees for working towards improving the same in future,” the statement said.

The government expects the financial implication because of the PLB payment to railway employees at Rs 1,030.02 crore. The wage calculation ceiling prescribed for payment of PLB to the eligible non-gazetted railway employees is Rs 3,500 per month. The maximum amount payable per eligible railway employee is Rs 8,975 for 78 days, it added.
Govt clears Rs 1,438-crore project for Paradip Port

The government on Wednesday gave its approval for mechanising three berths at Paradip Port with an estimated  Rs 1,438 crore investment under the public-private partnership mode to enhance the Odisha-based port’s thermal coal handling capacity.

The project, to be completed in three years from the date of award of concession, would be developed on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis in which the concessionaire would incur most of the expenses (Rs 1,413 crore), an official statement, issued after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA),  said on Wednesday.  Paradip Port will spent Rs 25 crore on dredging.

Once completed, the cargo handling capacity of the three East Quay berths would increase to 30 MT from 7.85 MT  now and the total thermal coal  handling capacity of the port will be 50 MT.

“The mechanisation project will go a long way in improving the operational efficiency in Paradip Port and thereby reduce transaction cost for thermal power plants dependent on coal supply through Paradip Port,” it said. The project will also create additional employment opportunities.

At present, Paradip Port has 14 berths. It had handled 74 MT cargo in 2014-15 and clocked a Rs 921 crore profit.